A life of service to community
Valley administrator, Bethlehem mayoral candidate dies at 76
Friends and family are mourning the death of John Kachmar, a Bethlehem native who became a top government and political administrator in the Lehigh Valley and multiple states before running in 2021 for mayor of the Christmas City.
Kachmar died Friday from cancer at St. Luke’s Hospice in Lower Saucon Township, according to Tim Kachmar, his son. He was 76.
“When you look at John’s life, it was a life of service to the community,” said Bud Hackett, a friend of Kachmar’s.
Hackett worked on Kachmar’s 2021 campaign to become mayor after Robert Donchez’s final term. The Republican lost to Democrat J. William Reynolds.
Earlier, Kachmar spent years as a city manager or county administrator in Minnesota, Maryland, South Carolina and Georgia.
Before that, Kachmar held several local roles. He was executive director of Lehigh Valley Manpower — forerunner to today’s Workforce Board Lehigh Valley. He served as Lehigh County administrator, essentially second in command of county government after the executive.
He was also chief of staff and campaign administrator to longtime Republican Lehigh Valley Congressman Don Ritter, also serving as Ritter’s aide in Washington.
Ritter said in an emailed statement his working relationship and friendship with Kachmar spanned nearly half a century.
“He was a fighter, steeled by combat in Vietnam and, as chief of staff in my congressional office, he fought mightily for our Lehigh Valley constituents,” Ritter said.
Kachmar was a decorated Vietnam War veteran who returned home during a difficult time when many Americans highly criticized the nation’s military involvement, Hackett said.
Kachmar’s name and battalion are mentioned in a book on Vietnam, “The Magnificent Bastards,” according to a 2007 news article and Douglas Graves, a member of the Marines Corps League Bethlehem Detachment 284. He was wounded twice in Vietnam, according to Tim Kachmar, including during a three-day battle that is chronicled in the book. He earned two purple hearts for his injuries.
“He was criticized for being over there,” Hackett said. “It was really a life of service, not only as a politician but in government.”
Kachmar, who graduated from Notre Dame High School-Green Pond in Bethlehem Township and Moravian College, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in
history, returned in 2015 to Bethlehem, Tim Kachmar said.
Kachmar used his decades of experience in government to rail against Bethlehem spending and other issues during the 2021 mayoral campaign with Reynolds. But he could not overcome a Democratic voter margin to defeat the younger Reynolds, who had been on City Council. Reynolds won by a nearly 2-1 margin.
“I respected the hell out of him,” Reynolds said, noting his military service. “He understood that running for office was about the future of your community and not about entertainment or performance, or carrying out personal grievances. And that’s rarely seen these days on many sides of politics.”
After losing the mayoral election, Kachmar retired, Hackett said. He had been working as a consultant and sometimes assisted veterans with getting benefits, while remaining in the city where he grew up.
“He was an operative who understood how government works and doesn’t work, and he did his part to make sure it worked,” said Alan Jennings, former executive director of Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley, who sometimes sparred with Kachmar on issues during Kachmar’s local government work.
A memorial, including Mass of Christian Burial, will be announced later, Tim Kachmar said. Cantelmi Long Funeral Homes is in charge of arrangements.
Said Ritter: “John Kachmar lived an important life.”